Council Meeting
by CherryColoredSoot
Summary: Rocket is stuck in a sticky situation when a particular kid starts crying, feeling completely lost when it comes to being compassionate and finding the right words.


"I'll be back in a bit!" Rocket called to his newly returned shipmates, no response, but he knew they heard.

Carefully he stepped out of the Milano and onto the forest floor, he had docked the Milano in a small clearing about a mile away from the cabin.

The cabin would be where he said his last goodbyes before flying out into space again to continue his life as a space traveler. He didn't care about the prospects of being a space pirate traveling the galaxies again, in fact all he cared about was that he got his friends back and the possibility of losing them again seemed low.

The walk through the forest was nice, a calm breeze playing with the tall trees leaves as the dead ones crunched underneath his feet. Rocket felt like this was where he would have belonged if he hadn't been altered, but he couldn't stay here now, he had more responsibilities than an average Terran raccoon.

Accepting the idea that he was what Quill called him had killed him a little on the inside, but on a particularly slow and boring day he had let Natasha send in the DNA test to see if he was from Earth, so lo and behold, he lost a bet and owed five bucks, he still questioned why they had their monetary system nicknamed after a wild animal.

At the very least he was able to come to the conclusion that Terrans were weird but after a few years with Quill and another five with the other inhabitants on Terra, he had gotten quite used to them. Steve was righteous and uptight, Bruce was smart a mess, Natasha was thoughtful but afraid of her strength (a quality that had reminded him of so many of the High Evolutionary's subjects), and Rhodey had been kind but harsh.

In total, Rocket found them to be a lot more complicated than he initially thought. That was the reason he felt it was so important to say goodbye in person because even if they did call to say hi, Rocket doubted he would ever come back to Terra again.

If he had timed his visit right then Rhodey would still be at the cabin with Thor and Pepper. Rocket didn't know Pepper too well, but he wanted to make sure she knew that if she or Morgan ever ran into some trouble that required explosives, he was their guy. It was the least he could after Tony had sacrificed himself to keep everyone alive.

Rocket walked up the wood steps and onto the porch, the water a few yards away from the cabin glittered in the sunlight, and the surrounding trees cast clear reflections onto the flat surface.

Rocket went to the door and knocked, it was answered by a not so sober Thor.

"Rabbit! What a pleasant surprise!" Thor scratched at his crumb filled beard, "What brings you here?"

"I just came to say goodbye. It'll probably be a while before I end up on Terra again." Rocket knew it was likely he would never come back to Terra again but he wasn't about to tell anyone that.

"Well, then you've come at a good time! Rogers came by to tell us he was leaving with the stones so you can say goodbye to him too!" Thor seemed to sway in the doorway, Rocket guessed he was even drunker than he had initially thought.

Thor stumbled back a few feet to let Rocket enter the house. The cabin was not really what most people would think to be a cabin, large windows, clean and beautiful floors, and air conditioning made it more like a house that was plopped in the middle of nowhere than any sort of cabin Rocket had ever been in.

After Rocket was out of the way of the door, Thor closed it and stumbled off into the kitchen. Rocket, having no better ideas on where to go, followed the drunk Norse god.

Steve sat on the counter, Bruce was off to the side and Rhodey was standing next to Pepper who was holding Morgan near the counter.

"Rocket! Nice to see you, little dude." Hulk greeted him with the normal upbeat and kind attitude, and Rocket gave a small wave in the green guy's direction.

Steve gave a nod to acknowledge the raccoon's presence before continuing his conversation with Pepper, "So we have to return all of the stones at those exact times so their timelines don't get ruined."

Pepper nodded, though she still looked confused, "when will you be back?".

"It only takes about five seconds in our time for captain here to return the stones." Hulk gave a reassuring smile, "but he'll have all the time he needs, so it's an absolute win."

Morgan pointed to the ground and tugged at her mom's sleeve. Pepper put her down distractedly, her attention drawn to what the Captain was saying.

Morgan pointed to Rocket before stating "kitty!"

"I'm not a cat kiddo." Rocket crossed his arms as Morgan left her mom and approached him.

She pointed to his ears before stating, "you look like a kitty!"

"I can promise you that I'm not." Rocket smiled, his lips drawing back to reveal the edges of his teeth.

Morgan was not at all bothered by his teeth and instead poked his nose. Rocket sneezed and shook his head and she laughed, her eyes wide with surprise at his reaction to hand getting shoved in his face.

Morgan reached out her hand again but Rocket intercepted it before it could reach his face, "please don't."

"Aww, but your so cute when sneeze!" She reaches out her hand again and Rocket took a step back, letting her grasp at air.

"I am not cute." Rocket stated the fact simply, arms crossed staring at the small Terran child.

"Are too!" Her eyes shone with excitement and curiosity, "want to see my fort?!"

"I uh-" Rocket didn't get to state his opinion on the matter before the little kid took his arm and pulled him out of the kitchen.

Rocket was quite surprised by how strong Morgan was for her age and that she was more dragging him than guiding him to her fort.

"See!" She pointed out at the small unstable structure made of blankets and chairs, "Isn't it cool?!"

"Sure kiddo." Rocket sighed, he couldn't be angry at someone who didn't know better. He just couldn't. Morgan reminded him too much of Groot, and he knew he would go to great lengths to make sure Groot was happy.

"It's even cooler on the inside!" Morgan continued to drag Rocket through the yard, dead leaves crunching under their feet as they made their way over to the fort.

"Kid I-" Rocket was going to protest but then Morgan looked back, she was smiling, she looked happy, and she had just lost her dad, "dammit."

"Damm it?" Morgan looked up at Rocket with a mischievous smile.

"Don't repeat that." Rocket sighed, watching as Morgan approached the fort and opened the tent flap.

Rocket gave one wistful look towards the house before sitting at the small chair next to the fort. Morgan watched Rocket, her smile quickly fading as she watched him sit.

"What's wrong?" Rocket asked, jumping out of the chair, worried he sat on something important or the chair had some sort of value, "what did I do?"

"Dad sat there." Morgan nodded to the chair adding, "before he went to the battle."

Morgan rubbed her eyes with her sleeves, "he's not coming back. At least that's what mom says."

"Your dad…" Rocket was at a loss for words, "he wants to be here, with you but he had responsibilities that he took very seriously."

The ground was covered with dead leaves that crunched as Rocket sat down next to Morgan, "he would have never taken the risk if he knew he wouldn't get to see you again."

Rocket didn't know if that was true, but it felt right. The only thing he could do to try and comfort Morgan was thinking about how he felt when he lost Groot and how Groot would feel if he lost any of the Guardians.

"You think so?" Morgan's voice was wobbly and cracking, tears spilled down her face and her eyes were puffy and red.

"Absolutely." Rocket shifted awkwardly, he wasn't sure whether he should comfort Morgan or pretend like she wasn't crying so she didn't feel weak. Her mood change had been so quick that it had completely taken the normally sarcastic and nihilistic raccoon by surprise and rendered him almost entirely speechless.

A few moments passed between them, Rocket questioning what another Terran would do to comfort one of their own and Morgan calming down and organizing her thoughts.

"Can I show you my fort now?" Though her voice was quiet and soft, Rocket could hear it loud and clear.

"Sure kid." Rocket watched as Morgan crawled into the tent, and kept the flap open for Rocket to join her.

Rocket stood out when crouched to walk into the tent. A small table took up most of the space with chairs surrounding it, a box of toys in the corner filled with a mix of stuffed animals, barbies, and action figures of the most popular superheroes.

Morgan crawled over to the box, grabbing a tiara and some pearls. She handed them to Rocket who looked at them confused, then realization dawned and he silently accepted his fate.

Morgan grabbed a cape and dramatically threw it over his shoulders, "do you know any fun games?"

'_Not any you can play'_, thought Rocket, watching as she handing him a tutu. The other Guardians would never find out about this, he would take this weird day to his grave.

Rocket thought for a few moments before settling on a less embarrassing game that would keep what little sanity he had intact, "Do you know what a queen's council is?"

"Maybe…." Morgan gave him a thoughtful look before adding a cheerful "nope!"

"Well, a queen's council helps her make decisions for her kingdom, like what they should spend their gold on or how to settle disputes at their borders." Rocket explained the term as best as he could but Morgan still looked confused.

"Dispute?" Morgan sat down on the other side of the table, looking interested but completely and utterly lost.

"Like an argument or a fight. Except, in this case, it would be over what one person has and the other person wants." Rocket tried explaining in terms that would be better understood by a child but found it difficult to simplify for a creature so young.

"So if one person has a toy and the other person wants it?" Morgan clarified, starting to grasp onto the concepts Rocket was trying to teach.

"Yeah. Exactly like that." Adjusting the tiara he had been given on his head and turning the fake pearls.

"Oh! I know who I want my council to be!" Morgan grabbed the box and took multiple stuffed animals and action figures out of it, one in particular caught Rocket's eye.

Morgan placing each one carefully around the table, putting her Ironman figure right next to her, "Now what problems do I have to solve!?"

"Rocket?" Quill walked around the Milano, looking for his small furry friend, "Rocket!?"

Quill stumbled into the kitchenette area of the Milano where Nebula stood at the counter, watching the Terran look around mildly confused.

"Rocket's still at the Stark's house." Nebula stated the fact while continuing to butter her toast. She had taken a strong liking to some of Terra's food.

"Stark's?" Quill straightened his posture, "why would he be there?"

Nebula Shrugged, "He was saying goodbye to some of the avengers."

"Oh. How long has he been gone for?" Quill asked, moving to grab a small snack since now he was made aware of his slight hunger.

"An hour?" Nebula gave another shrug, "why? You need help with something?"

"Well we need to get going sometime within the next few days and you two are the only ones who might have unfinished business here." Quill decided on a small bag of dried Earth fruit, "that reminds me, are you ready to get going or do you need a couple more days to straighten things out?"

"I'm ready to go." Nebula thought for a moment before adding, "but don't rush Rocket. He was… more involved with the other Terrans and their problems than I was."

Quill nodded, "I think I'm going to run by the Stark's cabin to check on him and get a timeline though."

Nebula didn't say anything as Quill left, just continued to make her toast. An old small paper football buried in her pant's pocket.

A loud knock echoed through the cabin, Pepper looked up from the table where she was organizing all of Tony's old projects.

Quietly she moved up from the table and approached the door. Through the peephole, she could see the thirty-something-year-old Peter Quill, hands in his coat pockets as he looked around the porch.

She unlocked the door, and Quill immediately turned to face her.

"Uh, sorry to bother you but is Rocket here?" Pepper gave Peter a confused look, "Looks like a raccoon and is about this tall, kind of sarcastic?"

"Oh. Yeah! Rocket, uh…. Crap." Pepper glanced behind her, "I think he went to say goodbye to Morgan but she did mistake him for, uh a cat?.."

"A cat?" Asked Quill,making his voice louder to restate "A cat?"

Pepper moved a few feet outside and started down the porch stairs, closing the door behind her and not waiting for Quill. Both took quick steps toward the small tent in the middle of the yard, where Morgan supposedly was.

Pepper approached the entrance to the tent carefully, opening the flap to see her daughter and the raccoon. Morgan sat at a table with Rocket and a group of stuffed animals. Rocket had on a tiara and a tutu over his clothes, he rested his face on his two paws.

"Welcome." Rocket sat back in his chair, "You want to join the council?"

"Hi mom! Kitty was teaching me pall-it-ticks" Morgan smiled up at Pepper, her eyes were slightly puffy and red.

"That's amazing sweetie." Pepper stared at Rocket then back to Morgan, she kneeled on the ground and waved Morgan over to her "Did you dress Rocket up like this?"

"Yeah! I was missing dad and kitty asked if I wanted to play a game so we played council!" Morgan crawled into Pepper's arms and hugged her, "it's soo fun!"

"Sounds amazing sweetheart, but…" Pepper looked back at the Rocket who shrugged.

"But what?" Asked Morgan, her eyes wide as she stared at Pepper.

"Nothing." Pepper bounced Morgan and took a few steps away from the tent so Quill could see Rocket "I'm going to go get Morgan some lunch."

As Morgan and Pepper left, Rocket took the tiara and skirt off, laying them on the table before walking over to Quill.

"Not a word." Rocket looked up at Peter with an indifferent expression.

"Okay." Peter picked at the side of his jacket, "Are you wearing my scarf?"

Rocket looked at the red piece of cloth, then walked out of the tent past Quill, "you weren't using it so…"

"Fair enough." Quill shrugged, and watched as Rocket walked past him to the porch, following Pepper and Morgan to the cabin, "Wait up dude!"

"Wait for what? All I came here to do was say goodbye and it just got…" Rocket jumped up the last two steps and onto the porch, nearly slipping on the smooth wood floor, "- a little distracted."

"A little distracted? You were having a tea party with Stark's kid!" Quill exclaimed, following his furry friend into the Stark's house looking around the place at the decorations and adding a nearly silent impressed "damn"

"She lost her dad!" Hissed Rocket through his teeth, "I felt… bad, Okay?

"You? Feeling bad?" Quill stared at Rocket wide-eyed, "You went as far as dressing up as a pwetty pwincess to be sympathetic?"

"Shut your face Quill, I can be nice sometimes." Rocket walked toward the kitchen where Pepper, Morgan, and Happy could all be heard.

"Hey, I'm going to head off." Rocket told the small group from the doorway.

Happy stared at the walking, talking raccoon and lifted his hands to push his palms toward his eyes. Pepper glanced over at Rocket while continuing to take care of Morgan's food.

"Okay, call if you need anything."

"Bye kitty!" Morgan smiled and waved with both of her hands.

Rocket gave a short wave back and walked out the door and onto the porch. Quill rushing after his surprisingly quick friend.

"Is the ship where I parked it?" Rocket continued to speed walk without slowing down.

"Unless Drax decided to try and learn to fly again." Quill gave a small sprint to catch up to his surprisingly fast friend.

Rocket grumbled something about fixing a wing under his breath. Quill gave a short laugh, he remembered that day, Gamora didn't know that Drax had so little experience with ships and let him try flying for once. Rocket has been so irritated at both of them for giving him a good few days of work for no reason.

When they arrived at the Milano Rocket headed up to his room without a word, letting the door shut behind leaving a very confused Quill in the main cabin.

"Did you get an answer?" Nebula asked, her voice echoing down from the deck.

Quill climbed the ladder to the deck, his steps echoing through the Milano. Nebula twisted her head to look at him, a normal placid look on her face, her dark eyes reflecting small rays of light.

"Sort of." Quill shrugged, sliding into the chair on the opposite side of the aisle, "I think he's ready to go but I'll go ask him in a minute."

"So no definite answer?" Asked Nebula, her eyes now focused on a screen she had in front of her, which had multiple sets of coordinates and few pictures of planets.

"No." Quill sink into his seat and stared at the trees swaying in the breeze.

"Did you find out why he was gone so long?" Nebula swiped her fingers on the ship's screens to show pictures of spacecrafts, all of them being unique or stolen ones spotted.

"He just lost track of time," Quill stated the fact with little thought about the fact Rocket had tried to do something half decent.

"Seems about right." There was no malice in Nebula's voice but more observation about their friend's normal behavior.

"Yeah I guess-" Quill switched on his screen as well, pulling up a list of Earth's satellites, "What are you looking at there?"

"Some of the planets near the closest jumps. I'm trying to figure out where she would have gone with what she had since she didn't have much to get off Earth with." Nebula sighed, her fingers ghosting over the screen, "but she is trained to handle most situations like this so the likeliness that she's even in the next quadrant over is not very high."

"So we are pretty much going on a wild goose chase until she wants to be found?" Quill zoomed in on one of the planets, reading the brief description.

The thoughts of Rocket's behavior drifting from his mind, instead choosing to focus on more urgent issues.


End file.
